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Etsy Shop Name and Address: ‘Glowing Doll’DELAVALLE.etsy.comWhat you sell: Tote bags, T-shirts and jewelleryTell us about your featured item: Captain Kat Tote BagSome of my best illustrations are on things they shouldn’t be. In the margins of notebooks, on napkins, old receipts etc. Luckily I managed to scan these adorable cat characters onto my computer and turn them into Tote bags.Link to your featured product: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9700852What do you enjoy most about running your own Etsy shop?Etsy provides me with a much needed creative outlet and experience at running my own small business.Do you sell on any venues outside of Etsy?I sell my photography on Redbubble. You can purchase it framed, mounted, laminated, printed onto canvas or as a greeting card. I also sell t-shirts on Redbubble with designs that are exclusive to my Redbubble shop.http://www.redbubble.com/people/delavalle

Etsy Shop Name: Cards and Jewelry by MicheleWhat you sell: Animal and nature inspired art, cards, jewelry, and accessories. 10% goes to animal charities.Tell us about your featured item: Custom animal painting and cards of your favorite animal friend(s).http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5270255Have you taken any business classes to help you prepare for being an Etsy shop owner? What class would you like to take? I have not, but I think that a marketing class would be very helpful.Is this your first entrepreneurial adventure, or are you a seasoned veteran? Other than selling in a few shops and art/craft fairs, Etsy is my first and main business adventure.

Etsy Shop Name And Address: Whimsical Jewelry & Accessories http://whimsicalpam.etsy.comWhat you sell: Handcrafted Beaded JewelryTell us about your featured item: My Shells and Pearls Necklace is a great summer piece. I love making this style of necklace. A simple chain with a cluster of shells and pearls or colorful glass beads and crystals. I think that they look great with the most formal to the most casual.Link to your featured product: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10793385Do you believe there is any relationship between the number of sales a shop makes and the number of hearts they have? Not directly. People heart shops for various reasons, some heart randomly, some heart to gain sales in their own shop (i.e. suppliers), some heart because they like your personality or agree with something you said (forums) and finally some heart because they're potential buyers. As a new buyer, they may feel safer purchasing from someone with a lot of hearts, so in that sense, there is a correlation between sales and hearts. Also, someone may find your shop by looking at another shop's favorites. How do you decide on the price of your products? I managed restaurants all of my life and we had one rule of thumb. Build your base first and don't expect to draw a profit for the first 2 years. I apply these principles to my Etsy shop. I buy quality supplies at the best possible prices and I use them creatively. I mix the more expensive stones with glass beads or crystals. Quality and customer loyalty is very important to me, so I cover my costs and add a "little" extra. If I charge $16.00 for a necklace, I'm still making a profit and I'm selling something affordable to everyone. I do not pay myself an hourly wage. That will come once my business is established.

Etsy Shop Name And Address: Gifts And Talents http://GiftsAndTalents.etsy.comWhat you sell: I sell a variety of different kinds of Art, From Handcrafted Jewelry to Mixed Media.Tell us about your featured item: My featured item is a Mixed Media Reversible Door Sign. I designed this sign with little girls in mind and I was inspired by my own little girl, Amelia who Loves Horses.Link to your featured product: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10313538Have you taken any business classes to help you prepare for being an Etsy shop owner? What class would you like to take? No, I haven’t. I have owned a Business Services Company since 1996. You might say I learned by Experience how to Manage and Operate a Business. As far as taking any classes, I haven’t the time. I operate my Business Services Company, My Etsy Shop, My Husbands Etsy Shop (which we just opened), and I have a six year old who has a lot of Homework. I hit the ground running at 5:45 a.m. and I don’t stop until 10:30 p.m. Do you hire an accountant to help with your Etsy shop finances? Why or why not? I have a CPA that I take my taxes to once a year. I bring him the information and he takes care of the rest. I do my own bookkeeping through out the year. Because all of the businesses are small, I can not justify the expense of a full time accountant.

Etsy Shop Name And Address: Brandi Strickland http:brandistrickland.etsy.comWhat you sell: 100% Original Artwork My work is mixed media, and mostly two-dimensionalTell us about your featured item: “The Horse and the Tree” is an original mixed-media created on vintage book paper. I used acrylic paint and collage over a page from a book about Greek mythology. This page discusses the relationship between Zeus and his son Hephaestus. I love stories, fables, and mythology. They are always greater than themselves, discussing really big ideas but in a really humble way. Very inspiring.Link to your featured product: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9917797Do you consider yourself an entrepreneur? Why or why not?Reluctantly, yes. I’ll be honest; I wish I could spend all my time making art and not have to worry about money at all. But, since I’m here on earth, I spend a lot of my time managing my business and figuring out ways to get it out into the world. I’m not content making art part-time. Eventually I hope that being an entrepreneur will allow me to be a full-time artist. Motivation goes a long way, and I have bunches of it. Do you feel more comfortable with the business or crafting side of your business? Why?I am much more comfortable in my studio than I am making business plans and crunching numbers. Business is a foreign land and I’m just learning the language.

Etsy Shop Name And Address: J2Ystreet http://j2ystreet.etsy.com or www.j2ystreet.comWhat you sell: Pouch, Purse, Jewelry, Badges and other accessories.Tell us about your featured item: My brand new handmade cotton purse with metal frame. A metal frame closes the purse. This purse is suitable for cash, coin, credit card and etc.Link to your featured product: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10110180What do you enjoy most about running your own Etsy shop?I enjoy designing my own pouch and purse by learning new sewing method. I also like to design stuff using Adobe products and currently I’m a Senior Graphic Designer and most of the time I’m designing leaflet, catalogue, newspaper & magazine ads. I would be very appreciating if there is someone likes my design work.Do you set goals for your Etsy shop? If so, what type of goals?Yes, I set monthly sales as a goal. Every month my goal will increase consequently, if I happen failed to meet my monthly goal then I will need to figure out what goes wrong. I’ll always try my best to promote my items.

Etsy Shop Name And Address: NKP Designs http://www.nkpdesigns.etsy.com/ and NKP Beads http://nkpbeads.etsy.com/What you sell: Original Pottery and Pottery BeadsTell us about your featured item: Currently I am developing a way to put my own drawings on my pottery as well as my pottery beads. I’ve been steadily working on this process since November of 2007. It started out as a simple, “AH HA! I can draw something, scan it into my computer, and print out a b&w decal!” Of course, it was not that simple. The decal didn’t fire well or consistently and just when I think I have shelved the idea for the last time, I think of something else. I suppose I am now in phase ‘Decal Drawings 4.0’!The new plan is to fire it as normal and go over the broken or fired out spots with a teeny tiny brush loaded with underglaze. This does add an extra step, but the first cup is set to go into the kiln later this week (Friday or Saturday as long as there is no rain.)Link to your featured product: http://nkpdesigns.com/ (look at the whimsical flower drawings on the masthead. These hopefully will eventually be on many of my pieces).Do you believe there is any relationship between the number of sales a shop makes and the number of hearts they have? Usually, I do not. However, when the ‘heart’ is ‘anonymous’, it is usually because they are coming back at a later time to purchase. I thrill inside when I see an ‘anonymous’ heart, because to me it points out a serious buyer.How do you decide on the price of your products? When I first began pottery I simply looked at the cost of the clay (minimal) and the cost of firing the kiln (cheaper back then) and the cost of the glaze (commercial is more expensive than DIY) and priced accordingly. Now when I first began pottery I wasn’t so good, either. My throws were a bit heavier than they are now. The glaze on the product was what potters laughingly describe as a ‘Pottery Lottery’ … if the glaze came out great, ‘YEA, I won!’ … if not so great, ‘BUMMER, I lost!’ I now try out new glazes and glaze combination on beads to gage whether I like them enough to go on something bigger, like a bowl or a mug. It makes winning SO much easier!I still sell an occasion mug for $5, but it will usually be one that I have come across in the back of the studio. Or it will be a mug that was easy to throw, no trouble to sand … easy dip glaze, and fired nice the first time. Basically, the more time I spend on a piece the more I am going to charge for it.For example, to make three mugs, it takes about 5 minutes to prep the clay by wedging. Some potters wedge only a few times, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, when I was beginning in pottery I read a Japanese Potter’s interview in a magazine and he was explaining how and why he wedged porcelain 100, 200, even 400 times (each push down is a wedge). He explained, in detail, the chemical makeup of the clay and the spiral that happens during the wedging process. He also explained how he threw in the same direction as the spiral (why fight the clay?). His basic premise was that the clay behaved better the more it was wedged. Most people, he said, wedged 40 times. So he started wedging 100 times. Then he decided 200 was better than 100. Then 400 better than 200.When I work in stoneware or earthenware clay, I wedge at least 200, more if I am working in porcelain. From the beginning I was told that my throwing was considered ‘light’. Some say this is a ‘talent’. I despise the word ‘talent’. I think I throw light because I take the time to wedge. The reason? Because when I don’t take the time, my pottery is heavier. Now sometimes I WANT it to be heavier. Other times, I want it to be light. I wedge accordingly.After wedging comes the throwing. That is a fast process for me. Three or four pulls now nowadays. I have an online video of me pulling up a pot from about a year ago (January 2007). I have gotten faster since then. Go to my webpage and click on ‘You Tube” to view it. Throwing is the fun part for me. After throwing comes the drying and altering part. Sometimes I will spend an hour or more altering a thrown piece. The question to ask now if you are a college graduate is, “How much do you make an hour?”After a piece dries, it is put in the kiln to bisque-fire. When it comes out, it requires sanding and glazing. It takes me about an hour to sand 3 good sized mugs. Simply dipping a mug into the glaze takes a few minutes. The more elaborate the glazing process, the more that mug is going to cost. Again, the question becomes, “How much do YOU make an hour?” I have one mug that I spent three hours glazing. Yes, three hours. That’s how I decide on my pricing, How much time have I put into this piece?I do want to keep my pottery affordable and so I try to always keep some pieces minimally thrown and glazed in order to do just that. I think a shop should have affordable, moderate, and expensive items in it, with more of the affordable and moderate items available, think of a pyramid with the most expensive item at the very top.One of my favorite potters makes these teeny tiny teapots – and charges $400 or more for them. She has held shows in Japan and taught for many years. I have done none of that. I am a beginning potter and I price accordingly.